Kindle Mobi2Mobi Vista/XP

This page of the Visual Kindle Guide was created by Leep, pilotbob and daffy4u.

The instructions on using your KindlePID and KindleFix , are based on the contributions of MobileRead members, Tommy Persson, Jad, Igorsk and TallMomof2. We thank you!

If you have any questions, please post in this thread on MobileRead.

How to use Mobi2Mobi on .azw, .mobi and .prc Books - Vista/XP

Mobi2mobi is part of a set of Mobiperl tools written by MobileRead member Tommy Persson for manipulating the metadata information in Mobipocket files. A Windows GUI (graphical users interface) version is also available.

Mobi2mobi is particularly useful in fixing the missing metadata for DRM’d ebooks converted using Kindlefix to the Kindle's .azw format from .mobi or .prc. Please visit the Kindle Mobi2Mobi GUI Vista/XP page to learn how to use it.

Software needed:

mobiperl-win-0.0.41.zip - or most current version

• Note 1: We HIGHLY suggest that you back-up your books before conversion just in case something goes awry. :)

• Note 2: Please note that Mobi2Mobi does not work on Topaz formatted books (.azw1, .tpz).

Step 1) Download and install the latest Windows version of Mobiperl. You may unzip the files into their own folder or add them to an exiting folder with other scripts.

If you choose to put the Mobiperl tools in their own folder, you'll need to change the Path in the System Environmental Variables, so that the mobi2mobi executable can be found. Please see the instructions on how to add the location of your Mobiperl directory to to the PATH variable by reading either the KindlePID Vista or KindlePID XP pages. It is very important to complete this step so that your system finds the Mobiperl scripts.

We are going to use the Python scripts folder we created and used for KindlePID and KindleFIX since the path variables are already in place. We have opted to install the Mobiperl tools into that folder ("c:\Python26\Tools\Scripts) even though we won't be using any of the Python scripts this time around. It's just convenient to keep all the scripts together. It's advisable to keep the books you want to convert in a separate folder. For our example we are using "desktop\downloaded books" (the same we've used on previous Visual Kindle Guide pages).

Step 2) Open a command prompt window and change to the folder (directory) where you have placed your book.

cd desktop\downloaded books

Step 3) To use mobi2mobi, the command line is:

mobi2mobi originalFILEname.prc --outfile revisedFILEname.prc  --title revisedBOOKname 

The following command line would add missing author metadata for Huckleberry Fin by Mark Twain:

mobi2mobi “Huckleberry Fin.prc” --outfile RevHuckleberryFin.prc --title “Huckleberry Fin” --author “Mark Twain”  

Note that spaces within information must be enclosed in quote marks.

For .azw books downloaded directly from Amazon (not created with Kindlefix) an additional set of parameters must be used to change the title of the book. The --exthtype updatedtitle --exthdata parameters.

mobi2mobi originalBOOKname.azw --outfile revisedFILEename.azw --exthtype updatedtitle --exthdata "revisedBOOKname.azw" 

We changed shortened the file name and changed the book title (just as an example) on "Night Shift" by Stephen King. The command was:

mobi2mobi "Night Shift-asin_B001BANK2S-type_EBOK-v_0.azw" --outfile "Vista_Night Shift.azw" --exthtype updatedtitle --exthdata 
"Vista Night Shift"

Note: Notice the typo which caused the command not to work. If you have problems with any commands, be sure you check your typing. (Hint: if you press F3 at the command prompt after you've made a mistake, it will type your entire command again automatically and you can cursor back until you get to the part where the mistake was made). Don't worry if your typing wraps to another line.

Below you can see the new book title after being run through mobi2mobi with the "--exthtype updatedtitle --exthdata" command and the original title of the book.

Step 4A) Here is how we correct the title of the .azw book we created using KindleFIX Vista/XP. Our book is actually titled "The Natural" but while KindleFIXing it, the metadata got mangled and now title reads as "EXTH" .

Step 4B) We open the command prompt and change to the "desktop\download books" directory

Step 4C) To correct the title, we used the following command (be sure to type carefully and don't worry if what your type wraps to the next line):

mobi2mobi Natural-583.azw --outfile RevNatural-583.azw --title "The Natural"

Mobi2Mobi does it's thing.

The revised copy of the book (RevNatural) is now in our "desktop\download books" folder. At this point can delete all other versions of the book, if you choose.

The new file was transfered to the "documents" folder of the Kindle. Here are the final results!